Moyes puts down 'small club' concerns to focus on the big stage

Everton manager David Moyes is sent off by referee Mike Riley, who will officiate in the semi-final against Manchester United. Photograph: Tony O'Brien/Action Images

David Moyes was standing on the Kop this week when he discovered he may have overcome yet another obstacle as Everton manager. The strained relationship between the Scot and Rafael Benítez was forgotten at the end of the Hillsborough memorial service when the Liverpool manager approached and offered genuine well-wishes for tomorrow's FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United. Sir Alex Ferguson may have influenced Benítez's thoughts, of course, but Moyes knows he has earned the respect of his Merseyside rival this season, however grudging. He can now ensure that "small club" is never mentioned within earshot again.

The Everton manager has won the majority of his challenges since arriving at Goodison Park seven years ago, changing the perception of a club whose grandeur had vanished, travelled to Europe only in pre-season and could not satisfy home-grown talents; all as a result of former managers' mistakes and a conservative board failing to capitalise on the Premier League gravy train in the early 1990s. Wayne Rooney wearing red at Wembley will be evidence of an occasionally turbulent journey for Moyes but the fact his depleted team can face United without apprehension is testament to his success. Yet that does not suffice for the 45-year-old. Only when silverware is back at Goodison will Moyes even hint at satisfaction.

Moyes began this season speaking of a squad that "could not cope" with what lay ahead given that, until £15m Marouane Fellaini and several free transfers arrived in the final week of the summer transfer window, he had not made one new signing. Now he stands one victory shy of leading Everton into their first FA Cup final since 1995 and has European qualification in his grasp for the fourth time in five seasons through the Premier League. It is no wonder Bill Kenwright, his chairman and steadfast supporter, has made Moyes the highest-paid employee in Everton's history with a contract worth £65,000 a week until 2013.

"Everton will win a trophy soon, that is for sure," Moyes says, although he is aware that the FA Cup alone cannot put the club's finances in the same league as his neighbours across Stanley Park. "The Champions League would give you the higher revenue to try and add more players, which in turn would hopefully mean that you would get to more cup finals. But as a football man I feel the players at Everton will win a trophy soon and I'm looking forward to that happening.

"The group we've built together is growing all of the time, and as the team is growing the performances are growing, too. I hope it is this time, but if it is not it is going to be soon. We want to win a cup. Last season we got to the semi-final of the League Cup, had a good run in the Uefa Cup, so we are getting better as a cup side. The pedigree is getting better."

Moyes has spent every season at Goodison maximising limited resources, a demand that has often necessitated a negative approach at the homes of the "Big Four" and prompted Benítez's "small club" criticism following a goalless draw at Anfield in February 2007. This season, however, has tested that ability on a weekly basis. Moyes lost his entire strike force to injury at one stage of the campaign before Mikel Arteta, then in the form of his Everton career, ruptured a cruciate ligament at Newcastle in February to join Yakubu Ayegbeni, Louis Saha, James Vaughan and Victor Anichebe on the sidelines.

The manager responded by acquiring Jo on loan from Manchester City and the Brazilian has repaid his faith with five goals in eight appearances. In keeping with the season, Jo is ineligible for the FA Cup and Moyes' forward options are limited to Saha, who has started one game this year and has missed training through illness this week, and Vaughan, the gifted but fragile 20-year-old who last appeared for the first team in November.

"I've had to find other ways of playing this year because of the injuries and I've actually found that Everton need the football in Europe. We need it for the development of our players," Moyes says. "We want to be doing it regularly. Manchester United have that experience. They'll be used to games like semi-finals. We are relatively new to it."

Absences have given opportunity to youngsters, with Dan Gosling entering the Everton annals for the late winner against Liverpool in the fourth round and Jack Rodwell signing a new five-year contract with his boyhood club. However, it is the unsung veteran of the team, Phil Neville, whom Moyes credits with turning Everton's season with a crunching tackle on Cristiano Ronaldo during October's 1-1 draw against United at Goodison.

"That was someone trying to take ownership and leadership of the team and taking the responsibility to make something happen," insists the Everton manager, whose captain could lead out the team alongside his brother, United's Gary, at Wembley. "That can be with a tackle, it can be with a pass or someone scoring. But Phil Neville did it for us with a tackle that day. He's tried to take a lot of ownership for what goes on and he deserves a lot of praise for that. I think if you asked Phil Neville, he'll probably say that he's as much at home here, if not more so, than he ever was at Manchester United."

Victory in the FA Cup plus qualification for the Europa League would rank alongside Moyes' achievement of reaching the Champions League qualifying stage in 2005. But until it is an achievement, and United plus either Chelsea or Arsenal are defeated at Wembley, he will curb the enthusiasm that has gripped his club's support. "I think we all want to beat United at a final," Moyes says. "This is a big day out to Wembley, two big teams with big support coming down. But we want more. This isn't our final.I'm saying it to our supporters. This is our semi-final."